B d ECCLESIASTES RENDERED INTO ENGLISH VERSE BY F. CRAWFORD BURKITT O a cP ECCLESIASTES Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/ecclesiastesrendOOburkrich ECCLESIASTES >; RENDERED INTO ENGLISH VERSE BY ^ "^ ' "f F^ CRAWFORD BURKITT LONDON SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE New York and Toronto t The Macmillan Co. 147 The greater part of these verses were privately printed at Rouen, October, 191 8. nkfu ^o First ^ublishedt 1922. PREFACE The great merit of the Book called Ecclesiastes in the English Bible, and Coheleth in the Hebrew, is that the unknown author, like Horace and Gray and Omar Khayyim, knew how to express the common experiences of life so well that some of his telling phrases have passed into general proverbs* A study of the book has convinced me that there is more sustained thought in it than is perhaps generally recognised- To bring this to the minds of English readers I have ventured on a version in the metre and style of FitzGerald's rendering of Omar Khayyam's Quatrains* Like FitzGerald, I have made a selection, but I have retained the order of the original and have kept as close to the thought of the Hebrew text as the exigences of rime and metre allowed. The passages not represented consist mainly of groups of reflexions on subjects not directly connected with the main theme, such as behaviour in Worship (v 1-7) or at Court {viii 1-4), or are mere collec- tions of proverbial wisdom, like chapter x: in a metrical rendering these passages seemed to me inappropriate* One or two passages I left out because I could not satisfy myself as to their meaning (iv 13, 14; v 9); possibly the Editor of the Book did not perfectly understand what lay before him. The Hebrew word hivel, translated 'Vanity' in the English Bible, is identical with the name of Abel the V vi PREFACE brother of Cain. What is the physical meaning ? The context of the passages where the word occurs in the Hebrew Bible are for the most part indecisive. The clearest passages are Ps» Ixii 9 (10) * lighter than hivel itself; Ps, cxliv 4 * Man is like hh^el, his days like a passing shadow '; Is. xlix 4 ' I have laboured in vain and spent my strength for chaos and hivel.* The Targum to Psalms generally renders it by Idmd — Le., * nothing/ The word evidently means something that comes and goes, and leaves very little trace behind. In Jewish Aramaic hevel is used for the * vapour ' or * exhalation ' that comes from the body and is seen on a cold day. Thus in Ps. xc 9 ' as a tale that is told * is explained in the Targum to mean ' as the breath of the mouth in winter.' Further, in vulgar Arabic there is a word hahhalf which means ' to poultice/ or * to give a vapour bath.' Thus the evidence for connecting the Biblical hevel with vapour is slight, but on the whole, sufficient. It is quite clear, for instance, that the Targumist to Ps. xc g under- stood it of the visible breath, which he probably distin- guished from the nephesh and the ruah, the breath of life and of passion. In English, ' breath ' does almost connote * life,' and ' vapour ' and * exhalation ' are prosy words. As a poetical rendering of hevel in Ecdesiastes something is wanted that at once calls up associations of lightness, transitoriness, and futihty. It seems to me that ' bubble ' does all this, and it is not too far from the strict physical meaning. Bubbles come from the mouth, and both the breath and the moisture of the body condense into bubble-drops. Bubbles burst very soon, and weighed in the balances PREFACE vii they are almost lighter than vanity itself* This is my defence for using the word. It is, perhaps, not out of place to say here that I have a conviction that Ecclesiastes was originally composed not in Hebrew but in Aramaic, and in at least two cases (iv 15, vii 14) I have rendered in accordance with what I suppose the original Aramaic text to have meant (see Journal of Theological Studies for October, 1921). Let me add that I felt convinced that the frequently recurring phrase * under the Sun * demanded to be rendered literally wherever it occurred, and I beg anyone who reads these verses aloud to accent * under ' naturally, on the first syllable, not like the word ' beneath/ This will give the necessary emphasis to the syllable that immediately precedes * under ' in each case. Ecclesiastes contains in all 221 verses: of these 141 arc represented in these stanzas, or nearly two-thirds of the whole* F. C. B. June, 1922. ECCLESIASTES PROLOGUE (£cc/*i 2-1 1) Bubble of bubbles 1 All things are a Bubble ! What is the use of all Man^s toil and trouble ? Year after year the Crop comes up and dies^ The Earth remains/ Mankind is only Stubble* The rising Sun will set and rise once more; The Wind goes roving round from Shore to Shore, From North to South it goes, and round and round/ And back again to where it was before* All rivers run into the Sea we know. And yet the Sea doth never overflow; Back to the place from whence their Waters came By unknown Channels must the Rivers go* 9 B 10 ECCLESIASTES The weary Round continues as begun, The Eye sees naught effective to be done. Nor does the Ear hear aught to satisfy — There^s nothing, nothing, New under the Sun* Something (they tell us) really New at last ! Why, surely, it was known in Ages past; The Memory has faded, that is all. And all our Lore will vanish just as fast. ECCLESIASTES ii I (EccL i 12-11 26) I in Jerusalem was Israel's King; I set my Mind to study everything Under the Heavens, how God hath contrived That grievous Care men to their work should bring* I saw what was accomplished everywhere, And all was Bubble and a meal of Air; That which comes short cannot be made enough, And what grows crooked Man can not make fair* I told myself. More Wisdom I have gained Than all that in Jerusalem have reigned; Wisdom and Folly both proved empty Air, The more I knew, the more my Mind was pained, I said, Then Til put Pleasure to the Test, And this was just a Bubble like the rest; Laughter seemed foolish, pointless was my Play, Even in my Cups I kept in mind my Quest. 12 ECCLESIASTES For all my Gaiety was but a Phase, Sought for Experience, to learn the ways By which men seek to get themselves some Good While they fulfil the Number of their Days* So I went on and built, and planted^ too. Gardens of beauty, bright with every Hue, Watered unfailingly and bowered with Trees — The Paradise of Eden made anew* I got me Slaves and Slavegirls, stores of Gold, With Flocks and Herds above what can be told, Till I became more splendid and more rich Than any King before me was of old* From nothing that I wanted I refrained, And all the while my Wisdom still remained, And I got Pleasure in my Work and Toil — And that was just the Harvest that I gained. The work itself that was so well begun Was but a Spider's Web that I had spun, Naught but a Bubble and a meal of Air: There's nothing to be Gained under the Sun. ECCLESIASTES 13 I looked at what my Wisdom had prepared. In which some Folly too had partly shared. And when I thought upon my Heirs to be I asked. Is Folly then with Wisdom paired ? I saw that Wisdom is the better state As Light is better than the Dark, its Mate; The Wise Man's Eyes are in his Head, the Fool Walks in the Dark and recks not of his Fate* But there's one Law no Wisdom can defy, Though I be wise, I like the Fool must die; \Vhat Gain will then to me my Wisdom bring ? ** This also is a Bubble ** was my Cry* For Fools forget the wise Man who has died — What am I saying ? Can it be denied A time will come when All will be forgot. The Fool and Wise together, side by side ? And so I hated Life; it seemed a Curse, All things under the Sun were so perverse. All was a Bubble and a meal of Air, And all my Wisdom had but made it worse* 14 ECCLESIASTES All I had done and all I had to do I hated leaving to No one knows Who^ One coming after me^ perhaps as Wise, Perhaps a Fool — that was a Bubble, too ! For if a Man with wisdom toil for long. And then his Work be fated to belong To some one else who has not toiled, why this Is one more Bubble, nay, a grievous Wrong ! For what has such a one his Profit in? A weary Struggle all his Days have been. Even in the Night liis Mind had little Rest, And what is his Reward ? A Bubble thin ! Surely the Worker should enjoy his Fill; It is not so: hath God, then* managed ill ? For who can think the ancient Adage true That '' God gives whom He chooses Craft and Skill, But to the Sinner He gives Care and Zest To toil and work to feather his own Nest For God to give to whom He chooses ** ? — Nay, This is a thinner Bubble than the rest* ECCLESIASTES 15 II (EccU Hi 1-9) There is a Period set for every State, Every Affair must finish, small or great — *' A Time for Birth, a Time to Die, For Loving and for Enmity, A Time to Seek, a Time to Lose, Time to Embrace and to Refuse, A Time to Mend and Rend in twain. To Plant and to Root up again, To Pull down and to Mend the Breach, To Kill, to Heal, — a Time for each, A Time to Gather and to Squander, A Time for Speech, a Time to Ponder, . A Time to Drop, a Time to Keep, A Time to Laugh, a Time to Weep, A Time for Mourning and for Mirth, War-Times and Times of Peace on Earth''- What Gain has then the Worker of his own For toiling at his Work early and late ? i6 ECCLESIASTES III {EccL iii 10-15) This is the Trouble God has given to Men: He made all things fair in their Season; then A Sense of Time He gave to us^ yet kept The Vision of the Whole outside our Ken» Right well I know there is no better Way Than cheerfully to do what Good one may^ But to enjoy the Fruit of Labour done — That is God's Gift, not given every day* Aye, what God wills, that stands for ever fast. The Colirse of things will go on to the last, Man cannot add to it or take away; God makes the Future as He made the Past* His Purpose lies beyond our Praise or Blame, What has been evei will remain the same; Let us then reverence the Unsearchable — He will take care to carry out His Aim* ECCLESIASTES 17 IV {EccL ill 16-22) God's Aim— how difficult it is to trace ! Fve seen Rogues sitting in the Judge's place. The Bad mar sits where Righteousness should be, And Merit stands before him in Disgrace ♦ God lets the Wicked flourish; no doubt He Will judge them justly, but it seems to me That He has made Men for Experiment To try what kind of Animals they be* For one Event comes both to Man and Beast, There's no Distinction when the Breath has ceased; As one dies, so the other, — Bubbles both, And Man nowise superior in the least* Who knows the Breath of Man is upward bound. While the Beast's Breath sinks downward to the Ground ? Out of the Dust we came, to Dust we go; All things return to tread the unchanging Round* i8 ECCLESIASTES So I see nothing Better can be got Than Work and taking pleasure in our Lot> For who can ever show us what will come After us, whether it be Good or not ? ECCLESIASTES 19 (EccL iv i-io; 15, 16) I gazed upon the world of Men around; From every side welled up the mournful Sound Of the Oppressed who weep and have no Friend, While their Oppressors thrive upon the grounds And so I praised the Dead of long ago As happier than the Living whom we know, And happier he who never has been born To see the evil Work done here below* I noted with what pain Success is won — And what's Success, when all is said and done ? Getting the better of another Man — Just one more Bubble blown under the Sun» * The Fool lives on himself instead of Grain, He wakes,' they say, ' and folds his Hands again,' But * Better is a Handful with Repose Than a whole Lapful with Fatigue and Pain/ 20 ECCLESIASTES I know of one with neither Child nor Wife, Whose Days are spent in weary Toil and Strife, His Eye unsated with his Wealth acquired : For whom doth he impoverish his Life ? That surely is a Bubble, all must own. For Two are better than One all alone, Then if he fall his Partner picks him up : The lonely Climber slips and still lies prone^ Under the Sun the Living walk in Pride, And close accompanying them, side by side. Their Sons, the Second Generation, soon To occupy their Place when they have Died^ There is no End to All the men on Earth; Think of all those who lived before our Birth I Yet let us not rejoice at coming last: It's all a Bubble, and of little Worth* ECCLESIASTES 21 VI {EccL V 10-20) He that loves Money never gets his Fill, And hoarded Treasure often turns out ill; The Owner gains only the Sight of wealth: Dependents eat, the Rich man pays the BilL The Slumbers of the Labourer are deep, Although his Fare may be but poor and cheap; The Rich man cannot buy a dreamless Couch, His very surfeit dr-ives away his Sleep* How pitiful it is when hoarded Gain Only has served to give the Owner pain, Wealth that is lost before it is enjoyed And all the Pile must be built up again What has he profited for all his Art ? He's stripped (we say) as bare as at the Start — But that's the Pity of all human Life, That naked as we came we must depart* 22 ECCLESIASTES The Happy Man, as I have learnt to measure, Lives by his Work and finds in it his Pleasure All thro' the Number of his days on Earth: This is the Gift of God, His highest Treasure* One who can eat from what he has and find His daily Round congenial to his Mind Ponders but little on his Life, and bears No Memory of bitter Days behind* ECCLESIASTES 23 VII {EccL vi 1-5; vi g-vii 2; 5^ 6^ 10) An Evil thing under the Sun Fve met: When a Man has as much as Man may get, And loses it, and Strangers spend it all — This is a Bubble and an evil Fret* A long life and an hundred sons, and not Content withal with that which one has got — When at the last the Corpse unhonoured lies I call the Still-born child the better lot ! For like a Bubble came it into Light, And passed at once thence out into the Night; It never saw the Sun, nor ever knew The point of Rest set between Flight and Flights ^ * Wi Better than Longing is the Presence fair. Yet both are Bubbles and a meal of Air; Our Powers and Joys have all been known of old. And Men will be exactly what they were^ 24 ECCLESIASTES For no man is sufficiently strong Against his Destiny to struggle long; Mere words are so much Bubble — who can tell What profits any man, and what does wrong ? For who knows what was Good for any one While yet he Lives, ere yet his Course is run ? His numbered Days glide like a Shadow by — What follows who can tell under the Sun ? The Day of Death, when a man leaves this Earth Is more important than his Day of Birth, And the good Name, gained from a whole Career, Is many tons of precious Incense worth* Therefore thy Leisure better thou wilt spend With Mourners than in Feasting with thy friend; We know full well to what we all must come. So let the Living lay to heart their End* ECCLESIASTES 35 VIII {EccL vii 13-18) Look on the work of God all round about: What He made crooked who can straighten out ? When things go well, enjoy while yet it lasts; When Evil comes, as come it will no doubt. Consider then that God is not deceived, He takes good care His Purpose is achieved, And so has balanced Fortune, this to that. That none will have the Right to be aggrieved* All things I've seen in these my Days of Bubble; Some Good men in their Goodness come to trouble. Some of the Wicked still prolong their Days In Deeds of Wickedness and Deahng double* Be not too Good, and be not Over-wise : Be not too Bad, the Fool's Cap is no Prize; Why die before thy Time ? Try this and that — He who fears God will not be snared by Lies* 26 ECCLESIASTES IX (EccL via 14-ix 10) It's a big Bubble, ah ! how often met, That Good men suffer what the Bad should get, And Bad men get rewarded Uke the Good, Yet seeing such Injustice do not fret; Be cheerful still, for better Lot there's none For any man, when all is said and done. Than Food sufficient and a Cheerful Mind To ease his Work thro' Life under the Sun* Although IVe toiled to gather Knowledge true To see what Man has done and has to do, Through Days of study and through sleepless Nights; To the Great Question I have found no Clue* For God has ordered His Creation so, That what it means no one can see below, However hard one strive to find it out ; The Wisest may Assert, he does not Know. ECCLESIASTES 27 All this I have considered, and I see The Wise and Good, how little they are free: God rules their Action — even Love and Hate No man can tell beforehand which shall be. All's of a Piece; all pay the self-same Price, The man of Virtue and the man of Vice, The Clean and the Unclean, the Devotee And he that never brings a Sacrifice. The evil Taint o^er each Pursuit is spread That one Event must come to every Head; So Man is weaving Folly all his Life, And at the End he goes to join the Dead* He who yet lives, there still is Hope for him, For living Dogs more than dead Lions grim; The Living know that they will die at last. The Dead know nothing, all to them is dim. Their Memory is past, their Race is run. Their Love, their Hate, their Rivalry is done. No Part nor Lot have they for ever more In all the Work of Men under the Sun. 28 ECCLESIASTES Go, eat in Cheerfulness thy daily Food, And drink thy Wine as an Immortal would^ Be well content, while yet thou canst enjoy, That God is pleased to let thee still see Good. Put off thy Mourning, give the rein to Mirth, Cherish thy Wife while yet thou art on Earth, While yet thy Bubble lasts under the Sun — This is what God has judged thy Toil is worths And whatsoe'er thine Hand shall find to try, Do it with all thy Might and Skill — for why ? There's neither Work nor Purpose^ Craft or Thought Or Wisdom in the Grave, where thou wilt lie* ECCLESIASTES 29 X {EccL ix II, 12; 13-16; xi 1-6) The way of human Fate Fve tried to sift And seen the Race not going to the Swift, Neither the Battle to the Strong, nor yet To the Wise man Honour or splendid Gift. In Chance and Ill-luck everybody shares ; Like Fish caught in the Nets, or Birds in snares, So Men are taken. Wise and Fool alike. Suddenly by Misfortune unawares* * * * This have I seen under the Sun, a thing That seemed to me well worth remembering: A little City with defenders few Besieged by Armies of a mighty King — Yet all their Apparatus was in vain, For in it was a poor Wise Man, whose Brain Saved that small City; but in alter days No one remembered the poor Man again* 30 ECCLESIASTES So ran the Tale/ and whether true or not ' From it/ I said, * two Morals I have got: Wisdom is stronger than brute Force indeed, But Poor men's Services are soon forgot/ * * * Cast on the Flood ungrudgingly thy Bread, From it thou may'st thyself in time be fed; Give seven times a day, and yet again — Who knows how soon thy Wealth may not have fled? Look at the Clouds tnat sail along on high, If they be full. Rain will come bye and bye. And if a Tree fall to the South or North, As the Tree falls, there it will ever lie. Just as thou knowest not where goes the Wind, Or how the Child grows in the Womb confined. So thou canst never understand the Work Of God, Who bears the Whole of things in mind. Stay not for Omens from the Wind and Rain, Sow in the Morning, sow at Eve again. Thou canst not tell beforehand which will thrive, Or whether both alike will yield thee Grain* ECCLESIASTES 31 XI {EccL xi 7-xii 8) Sweet is the Light, to see the Sun shine clear; But though thou live in comfort many a Year, Remember the dark Days will surely come, A Bubble all of them, and long and drear. Rejoice, Young man, and let thy Heart be gay. Enjoy thy Youth and give thy Vigour play. Follow thy Bent : but know for all of this That God will bring thee to Account one day* Put away Sorrow, have thy Heart's Delight, Practise no Hardship or ascetic Rite, But think from whence thou art, and whither bound. Before the Evil Days come on thee quite; The Days when thou wilt say ' I do not care,* When all the Light of heaven will seem less fair. Days without Sunshine, when, the Showers past. The Clouds still gather in the murky Air* 32 ECCLESIASTES When Trembling seizes on the Watchmen bold, And the Strong men in pain relax their hold, When silent grow the Kitchen and the Mill, And Glances thro' the Lattices are cold. Days full of Torpor and time run to Waste, Each step a Difficulty to be faced, When every Handful seems a heavy Load, And the most piquant Dainties lose their Taste. At last the Silver Cord is hanging slack. The well-worn Golden Goblet shews a crack, The Pitcher's shattered, and a broken Wheel No longer winds the Water-buckets back* A melancholy Picture, Line by Line, However we deck it out in Phrases fine; It shows Man going to his long, long Home, The Funeral Procession, yours and mine* That is the End of all the Toil and Trouble; To Earth goes back once more the Dust and Rubble, The Breath returns again to God who gave — Bubble of Bubbles ! 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